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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Sister City Committee - 11/02/2009 • .i,ster City Steering Committee RECEIVED Monday, Nov. 2, 2009, 6 p.m. 6th floor Conference Room, City Hall FEB 1 0 2010 1201 Leopard St., Corpus Christi, TX CITY SECRETARY'S OFFICE MEMBERS PRESENT MEMBERS ABSENT STAFF Yoshiko Boulan Donald Russell Mary Babbili Laura Gonzales Jorge Brenner Samantha Sandate Drue Combs Maria Couret Alan Thornburg Melody Cooper Randy Farrar Brandi Williams Tim Dowling Almira Flores Rose Gunjii Elizabeth Garza Dora Hidalgo Michele Hammock Kate Rodriguez Westi Horn Phyllis Roseman John Rocha CALL TO ORDER: The regular meeting of the Sister City Steering Committee was called to order by General Chair Brandi Williams at 6:00 pm. II. ROLL CALL: Laura Gonzales called roll. A quorum was met with 13 of 21 members present. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Corrections: Under VI A. insert "by acclamation" after Brandi Williams. Randy Farrar moved to approve the minutes as corrected. The motion was seconded by Michele Hammock. The minutes were approved as corrected. IV. TREASURER'S REPORT: DISCUSSION ITEMS: Laura Gonzales reported that the General Fund balance is $ 18,000. PALS account is $6,879.92. John Rocha moved to accept the Treasurer's Report and Donald Russell seconded the motion. The Treasurer's report was accepted. V. PUBLIC COMMENT: none VI. DISCUSSION ITEMS: A. DISCUSSION AND ACTION on how we will react to our new budget and how many students we will be able to send. In October, we send out packets for students to apply for the exchange. Randy and Michele delivered the packets to the schools and the response was great. Discussed how many students we could send. In the past, the tickets have been about $1000 to $1200 per ticket. In the past years, we have sent 10 students and had 2 alternates. Michele Hammock moved to select 10 students and 2 alternates for the 2010 Student Exchange. Randy Farrar seconded the motion. The Motion passed. B. DISCUSSION AND ACTION on fundraising for next year. Tabled C. DISCUSSION AND ACTION on where the Sister City display is at the Corpus Christi Airport. Laura spoke with Angela Rowe and she stated that they were promoting the Texas Jazz Festival and there was a large piano in that area. The piano will be moved in the morning and the flags will be put back up. D. DISCUSSION AND ACTION on sending letter from Sister City Committee to Mayor Adame requesting that Sister City be aligned under his protocol staff. Brandi and Randy will work on the letter to send to the Mayor. SCANNED H. DISCUSSION AND ACTION on moving money to different line items in the budget so that all the money is not on the Travel line item. It was discussed to leave $15,000 in the travel line and move the other $3,000 to different line items such as activities, food and office supplies. It was also asked if the money had to be moved to different line items. It doesn't and at the end of the fiscal year what matters is that the money was spent and not which line item it came from. Michele Hammock moved to leave the money as is and move it as needed. Westi Horn seconded the motion. The motion passed. I. DISCUSSION AND ACTION on December's meeting being held at Westi Horn's house. The party will be held at Westi's house. The meeting will remain at 6:00pm and then the Christmas party will be after the meeting. Westi passed a sign up sheet around for members to sign up to bring food for the potluck. It was suggested that everyone bring a $10 gift for a gift exchange. John Rocha moved to approve that December's meeting/Christmas social be held at Westi Horn's home. Almira Flores seconded the motion. The motion passed. VII COMMITTEE REPORTS: A. Publicity Committee — Maria has been working on the Sister City Website - International.tamucc.edu. This is the Sister City website. Maria asked if the Student's packet could be put online. The Selection Committee agreed that it would be a good idea to do this. Maria will promote this website whenever she can. There are pictures from the student's on the web page. Maria is going to ask for a link from the Mayor's office website and the Parks and Rec. website. Brandi asked for John to work with Elizabeth on how to contact the media, etc. B. Curriculum/Training Committee —John would like to see that it be mandatory for the exchange student's to pass the test that is given about Corpus Christi History. This test is important because the student's learn the history of Corpus Christi and are able to pass this information on when they go abroad. This will be put on next month's agenda for Discussion and Action. C. Selection Committee— Randy will send a sign up sheet for the committee members to sign up for the selections of next year's exchange program. Selections will take place January 9, 2010. It will start at 8:00am and end at about 3:00pm. Each interview is about 20 minutes long. There is a set questionnaire and evaluation form. Selections will be made that day. D. Fundraising Committee — No Report E. Art Competition Committee — Since Sharon has moved to San Antonio, we need someone to help Rose with this committee. The Young Artist Competition is in May 2010. Deadline for submission is April 30, 2010. The theme is "Your World". Samantha Sandate volunteered to help Rose and be a part of this committee. F. International Cultural Festival/EXPO — International Week is November 16 — 20. On, Monday, November 16, there will be an Embassy Fair with the student's setting up tables displaying their countries. If Sister City would like to have a table, someone needs to take the lead and set up the table. Drue has picture boards that can be displayed. On Dec. 8'h there will be a China Town Hall Meeting at the University. If possible, Sister City could have a table at that meeting. G. Yokosuka, Japan — No Report. H. Agen, France — The officials from Agen emailed Maria and asked if our budget had been reinstated and if we were going to have a budget for our exchange next summer. Maria told them yes we were. I. Keelung, Taiwan — No Report J. Monterrey, Mexico —Almira has not heard anything from Monterrey. Almira will send an email to Monterrey about the exchange for next summer and see if they are going to c ` participate. K. Toledo, Spain — Since Javier Morin is no longer with us, we need to find a member to be on this committee. This committee includes the Music exchange. L. Veracruz, Mexico — Jorge finally heard from Veracruz and they found the official paperwork stating that we are a Sister City. November 22, 1986 is the official date that we became a Sister City. They would like to reestablish their relationship with us. There is a new group of officials that are involved with the committee and they would like to establish an exchange with college student's to do a type of tourism internship. Brandi stated that we are not structured for college students and that any new programs would have to be approved through Parks and Recreation. Is Veracruz going to be a part of the High School Exchange next year? Jorge was contacted by Mr. Castillo from the Corpus Christi Airport about an agreement through the CC Airport, The Port of Corpus Christi and Veracruz. Jorge will get in contact with Mr. Castillo and find out more information about this. M. Playa del Carmen —They were going to decide this year if they were going to participate in the student exchange. Almira will send an email and see if they are interested in an exchange with one male and one female. N. New Sister City-Evaluation Committee — No report. Israel — No Report India — No Report O. Activities Committee — No Report P. Essay Contest —Tabled Q. Pen Pal Committee —Tabled VIII. IDENTIFY ITEMS TO BE PLACED ON NEXT AGENDA— A. Discussion and Action on someone volunteering to rewrite the bylaws. B. Discussion and Action on requiring that it be mandatory for all youth exchange participants to pass test on the history of Corpus Christi before being allowed to participate in the exchange. C. Discussion and Action on whether or not to keep the Pen Pal Committee. D. Discussion and Action on whether or not to keep the Essay Committee. IX. GENERAL CHAIR'S REPORT: The training for new members will be before January's Meeting. New members will meet at 5:30pm. X. ADJOURNMENT: Randy Farrar moved to adjourn and Michele Hammock seconded the motion. The meeting was adjourned at 7:21 pm. Laura Gonzales, Sister City Recording Secretary Cultural Services Division Parks & Recreation Department